Photo Mechanic 5, the next major release of the pro photo browser from Portland, Oregon-based Camera Bits, will be out in public beta form "in the next few weeks," says company founder Dennis Walker. In a statement, Walker notes that initially, Photo Mechanic 5 will not include the planned cataloging capabilities, owing to development delays, but promises the multi-user-focused feature "will be worth the wait" when that part of the software emerges later this year.

Walker's statement is below.

Press Release

Photo Mechanic Version 5 and Catalog Update

First and foremost, all of us at Camera Bits want to thank you for your continued interest in Photo Mechanic and the Catalog feature in particular. Camera Bits truly appreciates the loyal following of customers we have cultivated since 1996. We have earned this loyalty by providing our customers with quality software.

As Photo Mechanic enters its 15th year of service, we are proud to remain at the forefront of innovation in digital photography workflow software. We are also proud and most appreciative of the support and enthusiasm we receive for our products.

Last October, we optimistically announced Photo Mechanic Version 5, along with the much anticipated Catalog option, would be released early 2012. Well, winter has turned to spring and we owe everyone an update on the status of both Photo Mechanic Version 5 and the Catalog feature.

We are pleased to announce that a public beta of Photo Mechanic Version 5 will be available in the next few weeks. Photo Mechanic Version 5 has many new and highly anticipated features that are ready for release. However, the Catalog feature is still under development and its release will be delayed until later this year. Because there are so many nice improvements to Photo Mechanic, separate from a Catalog-related feature, we decided not to further delay a release of Photo Mechanic Version 5.

For those of you who are waiting for the Catalog feature, we would like to provide some additional information about what makes the Photo Mechanic Catalog solution different to help explain its delay. As the development of the Catalog feature progressed, we decided to pursue a related avenue of innovation that provides for a suite of photo editing solutions. These solutions provide multi-user functionality that extends well beyond the typical single user Catalog scenario. In our efforts to produce a product that was truly integrated, innovative, and not simply on par with the competition, the release date had to be extended.

Admittedly, this additional innovation has slowed the development process. With our goal to achieve the highest level of functionality, we may have disappointed you by not rapidly releasing a basic, on par, Catalog option with Photo Mechanic Version 5. We apologize for the delay, but sincerely believe it will be worth the wait.